Share this Page

Neville: Chelsea would dominate with Bale

Jose Mourinho’s side wrapped up the title on Sunday, their first since 2010, with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.

And Sky Sports pundit Neville, speaking on Monday Night Football, believes other clubs in England can use Chelsea’s playing style as a shining example.

“Mourinho is the best manager in the league, by a mile,” said Neville. “There seems to be this snobbery around football that everyone has to play the most entertaining football.

“I can understand some fans saying “boring, boring Chelsea”, but when managers of other clubs comment on the style of Chelsea I find that ridiculous. I can’t understand it. They’ve got no right to.

“We watched all our teams get smashed in Europe this season, Chelsea to be fair got knocked out this season and that was their one blip, but they didn’t lose, they actually drew in those two games against PSG.

“They are actually one of the best teams at killing games. Atletico Madrid won La Liga last year, but they didn’t win it playing Barcelona football. They won it playing a different style.”

“Mourinho is the best manager in the league, by a mile”

Neville, part of a Manchester United defence who won eight Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns, admits other sides’ defensive naivety compared to Chelsea’s offends him.

“When I watch the other teams play it offends me that they are so defensively naive. It really does.

“I have to say that Chelsea are the best team by a mile. The rest of them need to adopt the traits of this Chelsea team.”

Mourinho took Chelsea over in the summer of 2013 after the Blues had finished 14 points behind Premier League winners Manchester United.

Neville says the transformation in the two years since has been nothing short of a brilliant managerial performance by Mourinho.

“If we’d have said at the end of the 2012/13 season that they were going to abide by FFP, not spend as much as others, have a net spend of £54million, have an overhaul of the squad and turn it into today’s squad, you would say that is an unbelievable performance.

Chelsea’s net spend is impressive in comparison to their direct rivals

“He’s reduced the age, he’s won the league, and it is a far stronger squad.”

Neville also said the rest of the league should be worried if the newly-crowned champions managed to land Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale ahead of United or City.

“There’s one player touted about possibly coming available this summer, and that’s Bale,” he said.

“The talk is he’s going to go to one of Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea. If he becomes available, if Chelsea win that battle, and say they lost Oscar or Willian and got him for a net cost of £25million, I think the other teams are in trouble for the next few years, I really do.”

Chelsea would dominate the Premier League if they added Gareth Bale, says Neville

Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher agreed with Neville, and says that the only target left for Jose Mourinho should be to build his own dominant side over a number of years.

“Everywhere he goes, people always say he only does three years. It’s got to the stage where he has been to that many clubs and that many countries, where else could he go?” Carragher said.

“The one thing left for him, to take him to a level maybe like Sir Alex Ferguson, is to be there for a long time, build a whole club in your image, look at the youth set up.

“That’s the only one thing he’s never done, had that huge period of success at one club.”